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Definition
Professor Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University defines a WebQuest as an inquiry-oriented activity that uses resources on the World Wide Web. WebQuests pull together the most effective instructional practices into one integrated student activity. These Web-based projects use World Wide Web sites to help students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills. WebQuests are interesting and motivating to teachers and students. An effective WebQuest develops critical thinking skills and often includes a cooperative learning component. Students learn as they search for information using the Web, following a prescribed format that focuses on problem solving and authentic assessment. A well-written WebQuest requires students to go beyond simple fact finding. It asks them to analyze a variety of resources and use their creativity and critical-thinking skills to solve a problem. WebQuests help students analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. There are two kinds of WebQuests, short term and long term.

extending and refining knowledge
analyzing a body of knowledge thoroughly and transforming it
creating a product that others can respond to
typically completed in one week to a month. Elements of a WebQuest WebQuests are different from “scavenger hunts,” a much simpler approach that is as old as the Web itself. In a typical scavenger hunt, students are given a list of items they must find (answers to questions, for example, or instances of data) and are set loose on the Web. WebQuests are much more structured and focus heavily on collaboration.

Introduction. This is an overview (often a simple one) of what is to come. Many WebQuests take place within a story setting; in these instances, the Introduction is where the plot and characters are introduced.
Task. This page details the assignment that is to come. Tasks are often comprised of numbered lists of items that must be accomplished to complete the quest.
Process. The Process is the meat of the quest — it is here that students work together, develop plans of action, and find ways to solve the presented problem. Often, quest processes may involve role-playing and other off-line methods.
Evaluation. The evaluation phase centers on a “rubric,” a carefully designed chart listing goals for the quest and the standards by which performance will be measured. This can be thought of as a great widening of the typical letter grade usually given to classroom assignments. Rubrics are highly annotated “grades” with extensive annotation detailing many aspects of the project.
Conclusion. This is a brief summary, usually congratulatory in tone, that wraps up the project.
Teacher Page. Instructors are provided with their own subsection of the WebQuest site, with instructions for each of the above sections. Teachers who develop WebQuests often fill this section with information to help other educators adapt the quest to their own class.

The Non-Web WebQuest?
It might sound odd, but educators without in-classroom computers or Web access can still use the principles behind WebQuests. In fact, the first WebQuest used simply paper and pencil. Several years ago, WebQuest inventor Dodge was working on a lesson for second-semester student teachers concerning an educational software package. But Dodge didn’t have access to the software, so instead he accumulated as much information as he could about the product: evaluations, printouts of Web sites devoted to the topic, and even a transcript of a Web chat with one of the developers. He organized this material into thematic sections, and then handed them over to the students. Their job was to internalize the information, then collaboratively develop a working plan for determining whether or not the software was viable for the school where they were teaching.

Dodge told Education World magazine that he knew from the beginning that he had stumbled onto something special: “It was great! Having done my part ahead of time by organizing the resources, I had to speak very little during the two hours they worked on it. I enjoyed walking around and helping where necessary and listening to the buzz of conversations as students pooled their notes and tried to come to a decision. The things they were talking about were much deeper and more multifaceted than I had ever heard from them. That evening I realized that this was a different way to teach —and that I loved it!” Ultimately, the WebQuest idea is about more than simply using the Web for research. It is a structured process for introducing problems, building methodical approaches to solving those problems, and then getting students to tackle them.

The Benefits of WebQuests
Using WebQuests in our classrooms can help build a solid foundation that prepares them for the future. The First WebQuests In 1995, San Diego State University’s Bernie Dodge and Tom March developed a type of lesson plan—what they termed a “WebQuest”—that incorporated links to, from, and along the World Wide Web. Students were presented a scenario and a task, usually a problem to solve or a project to complete. The students were given Internet resources and asked to analyze and synthesize the information and come up with their own creative solutions. Over the next three years, teachers wrote their own WebQuests, and instructors began to teach WebQuests in their workshops and classes.Fortunately, this proliferation of curricular materials convinced many teachers that it was all right to publish their own WebQuests for others. Most teachers have included their e-mail addresses, which allow a WebQuest user to contact the teacher and discuss quest results. Additionally, WebQuest sites have sprung up and continue to grow on the Internet.

Why Bother?
Why should you take the time to create a WebQuest? The best reason is that, like any carefully planned lesson, a good WebQuest makes learning interesting for your students. Beyond that, however, several other factors make WebQuests a powerful learning tool. First, a good WebQuest puts the power of the web behind your topic. You can show students - or let them discover for themselves, not just tell them. Web sites can take your students anywhere in the world. WebQuests are a way to let students work at their own pace, either individually or in teams. A WebQuest lets students explore selected areas in more depth, but within limits that you have selected. This makes WebQuests ideal for classes which combine students with different ability levels. WebQuests offer a different, more dynamic approach to teaching the value of research. WebQuests can also increase the "comfort level" of students using the Internet for learning activities. While your students are probably already computer literate, a properly designed WebQuest can help students become creative researchers rather than simply "surfing" from one site to another.

How can I use WebQuests in conjunction with other educational techniques?
WebQuests are based on the ideas of inquiry and constructivism. WebQuests also incorporate cooperative and collaborative learning, since students work on projects in groups. These concepts can play a role in teaching with WebQuests. WebQuests can also help students meet standards focused on critical-thinking and analysis skills, and may be particularly useful for social studies and science. By using multimedia, WebQuests also help with multiple intelligence work. Alternative kinds of assessment can be used to judge the results of WebQuest projects. And, obviously, WebQuests are one way to use the Internet in education. WebQuests are tools, not educational theories, so they can be used in virtually any classroom with appropriate computer access.

Part 1: About WebQuests